84-77 - Hunter puts on a show in victory in Vítoria

Premiere win in Basque Country! The Bayern basketball team won 84-77 at Baskonia Vítoria-Gasteiz on Friday night. With the first EuroLeague win ever in the Buesa Arena, Andrea Trinchieri's team improved to 9-11 - and also won the direct comparison after the 76-81 loss in the first matchup before Christmas. In front of a crowd of around 5,600, Bayern put on a well-rounded performance, hitting 52 percent from three and committing just seven turnovers. The brilliant Othello Hunter, Corey Walden and Augustine Rubit each scored 17 points.

After a slow start (10-4 Baskonia/4th), it was veteran Hunter who put Bayern in game mode at the end of the first quarter with his physicality on the boards. Seven points in a row from Walden and a 20-2 run put them ahead 39-26 (18th). An open exchange of blows developed after the break, with the visitors still in front 61-55 after the third quarter. Baskonia came close at 73-71, but Hunter's dunk and Walden's Dagger three-pointer to make it 80-73 and a huge Munich win..

For the FCBB the show goes on this Sunday in Heidelberg (18:00) where the top of the standings should be defended. The 21st EuroLeague game follows on Tuesday in Villeurbanne.

Points per quarter Bayern - Baskonia: 16-17, 26-16, 1922, 22-23

Stats: Two-point shooting: 43 % (FCBB) // 56% (Baskonia); Three-point shooting: 52 % // 47 %; Free-throw shooting: 79 %// 87 %; Rebounds:  27 // 26; Assists:  19 // 16; Turnovers: 7 // 16.

Quotes:         

Munich head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "This is one of the toughest courts for me, I've had a lot of games here and not very many wins. This is an important away win for us, we were able to show a very solid team performance and also won the direct comparison; that is still an extra motivation. I think the whole team was convincing, we had a stable defense and were very good on offense, I think: we moved the ball well, had 19 assists and not many shots in the zone, but were able to put the ball there well. In the closing stages of the game, we did a great job of finding Hunter in the pick-and-roll. We are very, very happy. (...) A few weeks ago, Baskonia was still dismantling us. We came here to get our revenge. (...) Nick has given us stability. He had a very good game, although I think he could give us more. He needs to be more aggressive on offense. But his whole package with defense, rebounding and eight assists was very important for us."

Nick Weiler-Babb: "It was a great performance today. A lot of players stepped in and that's how we won as a team. We got stops when we needed them and hit important shots. Coach has been pushing me hard the past few weeks when I haven't played that well. So I'm trying to do the little things right, too, and just focus on that, even if the shots don't fall sometimes."

Othello Hunter: "We played a great game; we did everything we could to win. It's the second half of the season, so every game counts. We can use every win. Also today we showed that we can play hard and keep pushing ourselves. We finished the game and won. I did what I could to get the win for the team."

Neven Spahija, Coach Baskonia: "I think if we had played in the first half like we did in the second, we would have had chances to win the game. Congratulations to Bayern, they played an excellent game.  We are not playing our best basketball right now, but I like how the team is fighting. We will come back."

(c) Arrizabalaga & Stickel